War and Peace Essay: The Importance of Sonya -- War Peace

The Importance of Sonya in War and Peace Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace speculates deeply about history, religious life and human brotherhood. Most readers focus on the characters of Natasha, Prince Andrew, and Pierre. Another character named Sonya, who is an orphaned cousin, is staying with the Rostov family. Sonya is overshadowed by the other characters, however, she is vital to the rounding out of the other characters in the novel. The people she loves most take her life of commitment and sacrifice for granted. The reader is thus also inclined to give little emphasis to her role in their lives and in the novel as a whole. As someone who has essentially nothing, Sonya is willing to give everything she has to those she loves. She gives of herself willingly and thanklessly. This life of sacrifice truly embodies Sonya's generous character. This genuine nature of her character allows her to reveal so much about those with whom she interacts throughout the novel. With Sonya's seeming "simplicity" in the background, Tolstoy fully develops the characters of Natasha and Nicholas. He uses Sonya as a contrast for his heroine, Natasha, and also as a chart of growth for Natasha's brother, Nicholas. Tolstoy even uses Sonya as a contrast to Princess Mary. Here, if one looks deeper, one will find that there is very little contrast at all between the two women. Most importantly, Sonya is an illustration of society's effects on a poor selfless young girl who puts her needs below those of all others. Tolstoy employs Sonya's character in a variety of situations. Without Sonya, a great deal of his novel's depth and richness would be lost. Sonya is first introduced as Count Rostov's fifteen-year-old niece who ... ... all. Just as the characters in the novel never really appreciate all that Sonya does for them, the reader puts very little emphasis on all that Sonya does to enhance the entire novel. Sonya serves as a truly reflective mirror to Natasha who "never needed to sacrifice herself, but made others sacrifice themselves for her and yet was beloved by everybody"(903). Sonya's presence also helps the growth of Nicholas and reveals a great deal about the society in which she lives. The importance of Sonya's character to War and Peace is immense, yet overshadowed by characters deemed more "important" than she. Sonya tends to be put in the background of this novel as she is put in the background of the lives of those whom she loves. Without her Leo Tolstoy's novel would greatly diminished. Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace, Book of the Month Club, Inc., New York.

How magazines position their audience Essay

Most life style magazines position their audience by adopting a particular mode of address which is aimed to create a relationship between the magazine and it’s audience, for example the front cover of FHM (September 2003) includes the following cover lines: ‘Dress better than Becks’ ‘Mess with her head’ and ‘Biggest ever world sex survey’. These cover lines speak to the audience, which in this case would be men, by saying if you buy this magazine we will show you how to dress better than one of England’s top footballers. It identifies with the single male and how to get revenge on your ex it also invites them to be a part of the biggest ever sex survey, this reinforces the bond between the magazine and its audience and makes them feel a part of an exclusive club. The front cover of FHM (September 2003) attempts to hook its male audience by using an image, which represents female sexuality. The picture of a female celebrity in a provocative pose wearing just her underwear takes up most of the page. It is used to grab its audience’s attention on the basis of male and female attraction. The fact that it’s a celebrity means it’s not just anyone, its someone famous and the use of her first name means it is a more informal approach and helps the audience to feel closer to this sexy female. FHM is in competition with emap’s Loaded and GQ, which means that their front cover has to stand out above all the rest. FHM uses the exclusive photo shoot of Samia and the Biggest ever world sex survey to promote their magazine as better than any other. The ‘Exclusive’ shoot of Samia means this has not been done for any other magazine, just for the readers of FHM. The FHM title has been partially covered up by the main image, which suggests that the magazine is well established and no longer needs to show its full identity. The front cover of FHM has typical generic conventions of a male lifestyle magazine, such as the image of a sexy female, it mentions Becks and fashion which has intertextual links with football and has major sexual connotations with the promise of soft porn (Samia’s sexy shoot). It also includes inside stories on females and sex (girls on the sofa discuss cocks). The red writing adds to the sexy image as red is symbolic of love, lust and sex and it also helps the magazine to stand out. The FHM magazine fulfils the needs of diversion as it gives its audience the chance to escape from their daily routine through reading about more light-hearted matters such as sex, women and cars. It also fulfils the needs of personal relationships by offering companionship as it identifies with its male audience and helps them to feel a part of an exclusive social group. By using the cover lines Best of British, Mess With Her Head and the mention of Arnie (Arnold Schwarzenegger) it gives the audience personal identity and reinforces the norms and values of masculinity and manpower (Mc Quail, Blumer and Brown 1972). Male lifestyle magazines can be seen as stereotypical of men and male values. Using the front cover of FHM (September 2003) as an example, it suggests that men are only interested in sex, nude women, football and male dominance as most of the page is taken up by the half naked image of a woman. The features mentioned on the front cover are mainly to do with sex, cars and getting revenge on women. The FHM title is made up of the colours of the British flag and the caption Best of British. This can be seen as patriotic which also implies male dominance as Britain is a patriarchal society (male dominated) and therefore reinforces the idea of manpower. Male lifestyle magazines can also be seen to portray a bias ideology of women as most of the women in their magazines are very pretty, thin and sexy which assumes that all men who read these magazines are attracted to this type of woman. This is not always true of all men and therefore gives a false impression of the male expectations of women. This representation of women is also not necessarily the true reality of what most women look like and could be seen to pressurise women and men conform to this stereotypical expectation of the perfect woman. This would depend on how the specific audience of these magazines position themselves in relation to the text and whether they took the preferred reading and accepted this to be normal, negotiated what they thought and interpreted it how they chose to or opposed the reading totally and therefore this type of magazine may not appeal to them. (Stuart Hall).

Learn the Endings of Fifth Declension Latin Nouns

Latin is an inflected language, meaning that words are modified to express different grammatical categories such as tense, number, gender, or case. Many inflected languages make a distinction between the modification of verbs versus other parts of speech. The inflection of verbs, for instance, is also called conjugation, whereas the inflection of nouns, adjectives, and pronouns is known as declension. Latin nouns possess gender, case, and number (i.e., singular and plural). While the declensions generally delineate number and case, gender does have its place in the language, particularly with the neuter nouns. The Latin language has five declensions, each of which is based on the stem. The first declension is considered the –a stem, the second the –o stem, the third is consonantal, the fourth the –u stem, and the fifth the –e stem. Every noun in Latin follows on of these five declensions. Here we will look at the declension of Latin nouns, specifically the fifth declension. Fifth Declension of Latin Nouns The fifth declension nouns in Latin are sometimes called -e stem nouns. The nouns of this declension are few but common. Like the first declension, fifth declension nouns are typically feminine, which a few exceptions. For instance, the word for day (dies) can be either masculine or feminine in the singular, but in the plural, it is masculine.  Meridies, the Latin word for mid-day, is also masculine. Otherwise, the fifth declension nouns are all feminine (all 50 or so of them). The forms of fifth declension are easily taken for third declension forms. But mistaking an accusative plural fifth declension noun for an accusative plural third declension noun, for instance, as long as you have the gender right, should cause no trouble in translation. Most Fifth Declension Nouns in Nominative Singular End in -IES The Rudiments of Latin and English Grammar,  by Alexander Adam (1820) characterizes fifth declension Latin nouns as follows: All nouns of the fifth declension end in ies, except three; fides, faith; spes, hope; res, a thing; and all nouns in ies are of the fifth, except these four; abies, a firtree; aries, a ram; paries, a wall; and quies, rest; which are of the third declension. The Fifth Declension Endings The endings of the masculine or feminine fifth declension are as follows:   Case Singular Plural NOM. -es -es GEN. -ei -erum DAT. -ei -ebus ACC. -em -es ABL. -e -ebus Let’s take a look at these fifth declension endings in action using the Latin word dies, -ei,  f. or m., day. Case Singular Plural NOM. dies dies GEN. diei dierum DAT. diei or die diebus ACC. diem dies ABL. die diebus Here are some other fifth declension nouns for practice: effigies, effigiei, f., effigyfides, fidei, f., faithres, rei, f., thingspes, spei, f., hope. For more information and resources, explore a paradigm of an additional fifth declension noun,  Ã‚  f.  (thinness), complete with macrons and umlauts.

The Security Challenges Of The Cyber Space - 1111 Words

UK CYBER ESSESTIALS SCHEME (UKCES): To differentiate the security challenges of the cyber space, a security scheme was proposed by the government of UK which majorly focuses on the policy followed by it. It concentrates on the criticalness of a sheltered framework through a sensible approach and sets up structures that are obliged to combine together for current effort to push towards a venture to see the key objective of making a secured cyber space. (Cleveland, 2008). It accents on the requirements of the administrations, proficient and the worldwide assistants to collaborate nearby individual in common with the objective of enhancing so as to decrease the threat and abusing data in order to build up the UK in worldwide web. Cyber protection controls: Boundary firewalls and internet gateways. Safe configuration. Threat protection. Management of patch. Access control. By utilizing the solid firewalls and Internet gateways the information and the applications of the association must be secured from the unapproved access. The framework must be legitimately configured to decrease the vulnerabilities level that are acquired and correct capacity must be performed. Idiosyncratic access advantages must be accommodated the approved clients. The framework can be constantly monitored so that it can be prevented from any malwares and usage of the antimalware programs should be carried out. (Curphey, 2006). Each framework has a product working on it and that product has toShow MoreRelatedCyber Defense And Security Issues789 Words   |  4 PagesUnderstanding cyber defense and security issues such as cyber-crime and cyber-attacks ensure efficient functioning of information systems. 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The Film Of Jay Gatsby Essay - 1482 Words

The 2013 film adaption of Jay Gatsby, a man who rose from poverty as a child to being a millionaire with all the makings, huge house, servants, hundreds of friends. He exemplifies the self-made man theory; he is successful both socially and financially. He basically created a completely new person for himself from his past life. But with all the wealth and status Gatsby accumulated, on the surface it made him appear to be living the American Dream but it actually leads to his demise. Many different possessions seemed to hold the promise of happiness and the path to the American Dream. One such example was the houses depicted in the movie. The obvious competition to declare one’s status, everyone attempting outdo the another. It was all about the size of the house and the amenities they had. Take Daisy’s house or actually Tom’s house, although they we just as wealthy as Gatsby, Tom chose to display it in a much more subdued manor and with much more taste. 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Carrying a Heavy Load Free Essays

Carrying a Heavy Load The word carry means to hold, contain, or support something and to take that something you are holding or supporting to another place. In many cases when people talk about carrying things they speak about physically carrying an object with some amount of weight from one place to another. Many times however people carry things with them throughout life that have no physical weight, weighing themselves down with the â€Å"heavy† burdens that life brings. We will write a custom essay sample on Carrying a Heavy Load or any similar topic only for you Order Now Both Wideman and Obrien’s short stories exemplify a common theme of persevering through struggles and relieving oneself of the weight of life’s struggles. The soldiers in O’Brien’s short story â€Å"The Things They Carried† carry heavy physical loads necessary for them to survive out in war, but they also carry heavy emotional loads which will be with them for the rest of their lives if they are unable to let them go. Some things the men carry are universal, like a compress in case of fatal injuries and a two-pound poncho that can be used as a raincoat, groundsheet, or tent. Most of the men are common, low-ranking soldiers and carry a standard M-16 assault rifle and several magazines of ammunition. Several men carry grenade launchers. All men carry the figurative weight of memory and the literal weight of one another. They carry Vietnam itself, in the heavy weather and the dusty soil. The things they carry are also determined by their rank or specialty. Each mans physical burden consisted of weapons, cigarettes, C rations, and packets of Kool-Aid, and the more intangible things, such as fear and silent awe, that weigh these soldiers down. As leader, for example, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carries the maps, the compasses, and the responsibility for his men’s lives. The medic, Rat Kiley, carries morphine, malaria tablets, and supplies for serious wounds, and the responsibility to save lives. The things they carry depend on several factors, including the men’s priorities and their constitutions. Because the machine gunner Henry Dobbins is exceptionally large, for example, he carries extra rations; because he is superstitious, he carries his girlfriend’s pantyhose around his neck. Nervous Ted Lavender carries marijuana and tranquilizers to calm himself down, and the religious Kiowa carries an illustrated New Testament, a gift from his father. With the amount of space that the author gives to enumerating the weight of these objects, one might assume that these objects are what are really important to these soldiers, but in reality it is the incalculable weight of their burdens that truly weigh them down. The â€Å"things† of the title that O’Brien’s characters carry are both literal and figurative. While they all carry heavy physical loads, they also all carry heavy emotional loads, composed of grief, terror, love, and longing. Each man’s physical burden underscores his emotional burden. Henry Dobbins, for example, carries his girlfriend’s pantyhose and, with them, the longing for love and comfort. Similarly, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, of the Alpha Company, carries various reminders of his love for Martha, a girl from his college in New Jersey. Cross carries her letters in his backpack and her good-luck pebble in his mouth. He carries her photographs, including one of her playing volleyball, but closer to his heart still are his memories. Lavender, one of the soldiers in the story, gets shot on his way back from going to the bathroom. That night the soldiers sit in the darkness discussing the short span between life and death in an attempt to make sense of the situation. The morning after Lavender’s death, in the steady rain, Cross crouches in his foxhole and burns Martha’s letters and two photographs. By burning the physical reminders of Martha Cross believes that he will be able to forget about his past with her, and stop fantasizing about their future. O’Brien wrote â€Å"Besides, the letters were in his head. And even now, without photographs, Lieutenant Cross could see Martha playing volleyball in her white gym shorts and yellow T-shirt. He could see her moving in the rain. † Even without the pictures and the letters he was still carrying Martha. These emotional burdens are the heaviest because they are intangibles and therefore cannot be disposed of. Physical burdens are no more than that; if necessary they can be discarded. Emotional burdens, on the other hand, must be endured. O’Brien, speaking of cowardice in particular, says, â€Å"in many respects this was the heaviest burden of all, for it could never be put down. † The soldiers know there is no easy way to rid themselves of their fears because of their abstract nature, but they dream escapist dreams of flying away in a plane and â€Å"falling higher and higher,† free of weight. Jimmy Cross tries to rid himself of intangible burdens by disposing of tangible ones that, to him, represent intangible qualities. He does this by burning his letters from Martha. He knows, though, that this simple act cannot rid him of his memories. â€Å"He realized it was only a gesture†¦ Besides, the letters were in his head. † His love for Martha is also represented by the small pebble, which she gave him, but the easily disposable pebble, which weighs merely an ounce, represents a much heavier emotional burden that he cannot rid himself of. Though in Wideman’s short story â€Å"Newborn Thrown in Trash and Dies† a tiny baby is cast down a rubbish chute with no tools to survive, no physical load except for her own weight, she carries a heavy emotional load and reflects on what her life might have been had she lived on each floor of the tenement building where her 19-year-old mother lives. In the first paragraph of the story Wideman quickly expresses the theme of carrying burdens. Wideman writes, â€Å"Your life rolled into a ball so dense, so super heavy it would drag the universe down to hell if this tiny tiny lump of whatever didn’t dissipate as quickly as its formed. Quicker. The weight of it is what you recall some infinitesimal fraction of when you stumble and crawl through your worst days on earth. † Here the newborn speaks about burdens and mishaps that come about in life. She explains to the reader that she will not be able to receive much of a life but that people would have nothing to live for if they did not forget about the struggles and problems that were flashed before their eyes before they were born into this world. The rest of the short story tells a complete play-by-play of the flash of life she had before she was brought into the world. Each floor represents another stage or point in her short life. The floors of this story disguise the days of life, and the newborn that will have no chance to experience them explains the days of life perfectly in these words; â€Å"I believe all floors are not equally interesting. Less reason to notice some then others. Equality would become boring, predictable. Though we may slight some and rattle on about others, that does not change the fact that each floor exists and the life on it is real, whether we pause to notice or not. † People cannot have a good day everyday or everyday would become boring and predictable. In many instances of life people are put into situations such as the war that the soldiers in â€Å"The Things They Carried†, that they have no control over, and that they could not even begin to explain to people for the mere fact that the situation that they are in no one should ever have to think about let alone experience. On the other end of the spectrum good days and good experiences are most often remembered and reminisced about for the rest of peoples lives, which they should be. The thing that people don’t realize is that very often people carry around the burdens of their pasts and the bad days that they have had which make the rest of their lives less enjoyable. After the war, the psychological burdens the men carried during the war will continue to define them. Those who survive will carry guilt, grief, and confusion, although the heavy backpack filled with tools to survive will be gone. In both stories the characters carried emotional burdens, the soldiers carried fear and hope as well as the newborn baby. The soldiers hoped to see another day, and were scared that the opportunity might not come. They had lived lives before the war and feared that they might never get the opportunity to live happily with their loved ones again so they carried belongings of their loved ones physically trying to keep their loved ones close and not forgotten. The same holds true with the newborn girl. She never gets the opportunity to experience her family, or to even establish a connection with anyone before she dies. Still she fantasizes about what it might have been like, what might have happen. The emotional burdens of fear of death seem to be unbearable for the soldiers mainly because they know that they are losing the opportunity of life. The newborn however doesn’t seem bitter about dying, she feels sympathy for the mother who put her in the trash and accepts her life as being â€Å"how it is,† as she doesn’t know any better. All in all the characters of both the stories carry their emotional loads till death, or until they go back home which even then the psychological affects of the war will still haunt them until they learn to let them go. So as the newborn surrenders to her death she lets go of her emotional burdens floor by floor never looking back, so to should the soldiers realize that their days are numbered and tomorrow is never promised so just as Wideman wrote at the end of his second paragraphs about how people try to forget the flash of their life that occurs before they are born people should also try to forget the bad days and the burdens of life as they happen and, â€Å"live your life as if it hasn’t happened before, as if the tape has not been punched full of holes, the die cast. † How to cite Carrying a Heavy Load, Papers

Criticacal Thinking and Problem Solving Decision Making

Question: Describe about the Criticacal Thinking and Problem Solving for Decision Making. Answer: As a social work student, throughout this session, I have learned to appreciate the peaceful, yet exhilarating moment when dealing with various cases of social problems. Since I was a young boy, I had the passion of becoming a community counsellor and at the same time serve as a community resource mobilizer. To achieve these, I needed to have excellent critical thinking and problem solving skills. However, towards the end of my high school, I almost gave up on my pursuit of this career path as most of my friends had discouraged me that critical thinking was a very difficult and complicated field and that those who pursued this course in most cases ended up being hard liners as they argued on every issue. Nonetheless, my studies in critical thinking and problem solving this session have left me with a completely different notion about this field. My lecturer, Dr Angelina Zubac has proved to be a very resourceful person. I have always been a thinker, but all along the session, my critical analysis skills have greatly been sharpened. Through the study of Prospect Theory, I learned how to choose between two alternative risky situations where I learned that when presented with two situations that are risky in nature, I should choose the one that will give me more benefits in terms of financial gain or that situation that will save me from incurring losses (Boyd Fales, 1983). Moreover, I studied another theory that can help me in problem solving whenever faced by a difficult situation; Expected Utility Theory, which I learned that it is premised on the assumption that when faced with a situation that has an uncertain outcome; I should focus on a solution that at the end will satisfy my need (Langer Colton, 1994). Through a workshop organised in week 2 of my study, I had a chance to listen to several problems and to taste my problem solving and critical thinking skills. I was involved in a dialogue with Susan, one of my group members. Through the dialogue, I was able to observe how she presented her issues and gave my views. This I had learned was a process to help enhance my critical thinking skills through listening to and analysing other peoples issues. To retain the information I had acquired during presentations, I recorded all the activities including dialogue and presentations using my smartphone. Furthermore, to enhance my critical thinking skills, I read on-line materials such as essays, research papers, publications and proposals by various world known authors on critical thinking such as Plato. For instance, Platos writing on the Allegory of the Cave was really fascinating and sharpened my analysis of situations from a critical point of view (Kennison, 2006). I discovered that to be a good decision maker, I have to compromise as this will enable me achieve the objective of either the organisation or management. In whatever decision I make, I ought to ensure that there is no conflict with other peoples decision and to achieve this, I must always strike a compromise (Frederick, 2005). Moreover, there must be rationality in my decisions. Oral presentations and debates enhanced my communication skills and reduced the anxiety I have always had during presentations. I learned that a good decision maker ought to embrace high self-efficacy skills such as being courageous, active, competent and optimistic. It also entails having high self-esteem and employing the use of high social integration skills (Paternoster Pogarsky, 2009). These skills were further sharpened through practical learning experiences such as debating, presentations in workshops and in the classroom. Through watching videos, my decision making skills were further enhanced. I have always assumed the responsibility of leadership throughout all stages of my study. For instance, I served as a class prefect and school captain respectively at primary school and secondary school. When I joined the university, I really had the desire to continue and to advance this passion. It was therefore my goal to serve as a student leader at the university. To achieve this goal, I needed to acquire good leadership skills which I have learned requires good decision making and critical thinking skill (Lipman, 1987). This was surely the right class session for me. Despite the constraints I faced such as a tight work schedule, anxiety during class presentations and during debates and lack of a smart phone, I managed to acquire the skills. Through help from my family, I was able to afford a smart phone which I used to record presentations for future review and to access online learning information on decision making and critical thinking skills. The session has really been of help to me as my leadership skills have been enhanced. I learned that a good leader ought to possess decision making skills such as influencing and persuading skills, appreciating other peoples views, how to agree and disagree amicably and how to present my views (Profetto-McGrath, 2005). Today using the acquired skills, I can gladly vie for the leadership position. The leadership skills acquired are not only of great help in my university student leadership position but will also help me in my community service and in my future life leadership roles. Based on the knowledge I have I acquired I believe I am ready to take up my roles as a community mobilizer and as a social worker since my decision making and critical thinking skills have been sharpened. By taking up these roles, my skills will be sharpened even more as I will have a chance to exercise my learned skills and to face on-field challenges and devise ways to overcome the challenges. My passion in decision making having been awakened and will see me read further on similar topics to expand my knowledge beyond limits. Furthermore, having acquired leadership skills throughout the session, I believe I am ready to take up leadership responsibilities at the university and later even try the field of leadership at the national level. References Langer, G. M., Colton, A. B. (1994). Reflective Decision Making: The Cornerstone of School Reform. Journal of Staff Development, 15(1), 2-7. Boud, D. (2001). Using journal writing to enhance reflective practice. New directions for adult and continuing education, 2001(90), 9-18. Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4), 25-42. Paternoster, R., Pogarsky, G. (2009). Rational choice, agency and thoughtfully reflective decision making: The short and long-term consequences of making good choices. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 25(2), 103-127. Lipman, M. (1987). Critical thinking: What can it be?. Analytic Teaching, 8(1). Profetto-McGrath, J. (2005). Critical thinking and evidence-based practice. Journal of Professional Nursing, 21(6), 364-371. Kennison, M. M. (2006). The evaluation of students' reflective writing for evidence of critical thinking. Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(5), 269-273. Boyd, E. M., Fales, A. W. (1983). Reflective learning key to learning from experience. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 23(2), 99-117.